Judge Warns Against Loss of Civil Liberties While Fighting Terrorism

June 24, 2007 — Ron Chusid

Royce Lamberth, a district court judge in Washington and former chief of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, has criticized George Bush’s use of wiretaps following the 9/11 attack. At the convention of the American Library Association he warned that “what we have found in the history of our country is that you can’t trust the executive.”

Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, warned about the loss of civil liberties while fighting terrorism. He said, “We have to understand you can fight the war (on terrorism) and lose everything if you have no civil liberties left when you get through fighting the war.”